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Tuesday, July 31, 2012

As of TODAY, the Kahuna Koozies and Flasks are available! It's SWAG time!

Don’t let your beers get warm because you don’t have a cool KOOZIE to keep your brews cold!

A Big Kahuna Brew Koozie not only keeps your brews cold, but shows that you are a “Pū'ali koa” and you are ready to keep the party rocking in style!

But don’t let the party stop because the bartender makes a LAST CALL!

Take the party with you in a Big Kahuna Flask! 6oz of Stainless Steel protection for your RUM, Bourbon, or vodka will help ensure that you are ready to keep things cruising long after the amateurs are off to bed!6OZ Big Kahuna Flasks $10

Collapsible Koozies, Lime Green or Royal Blue, $5

Colors

Not that you'd expect less from the Big Kahuna, but FREE SHIPPING on all orders!

Saturday, July 28, 2012

Yup. I got some free beer a few weeks ago when my local beer monger got a few mixed eight packs from his distributor.

Tallgrass brewing out of Manhattan Kansas has been brewing up tasty craft beer since 2007, yet the only reason I found them is because a distributor dropped off their beer after they stopped carrying the brand.

I’m not sure why Tallgrass stopped distribution in Colorado, other than the fact that this is a super tough market, but I’m certainly glad I got to try their beers.

Tallgrass, like so many small breweries, was founded on hard work and funding from friends and family.

After considerable amounts of planning and hard work, when the spring of 2007 rolled around Jeff Gill and his wife Tricia were ready to speak with friends and family about investing in their dream to start Tallgrass Brewing Company.

Courtesy Tallgrass Brewing

With the money raised and a lot more hard work, the brewery was built just off of Green Valley Road at the edge of the Flint Hills. A beautiful copper-clad brewhouse arrived in June 2007 and the first beer was brewed in August 2007.

Their beer is now available on tap and in cans across the Midwest, Mississippi, Minnesota, and more to come!

The brewery describes the beers that I was able to try as:

OASIS (ABV 7.2%, 93 IBU) Oasis is a Double ESB/IPAish beer that came about from playing around with one of Jeff’s favorite homebrew recipes

BUFFALO SWEAT (ABV 5.0%, 20 IBU) We love this beer here at the brewery, and think you will have one of those “I’ve never-tasted-a-beer-like-that” kind of moments when you try it!

Courtesy Tallgrass Brewing

IPA (ABV 6.3%, 60 IBU) Our third beer, Tallgrass IPA, is an India Pale Ale that is rich, complex, and flavorful. We are proud to be the first brewery here in the Great Plains to have the first brewed, cans, and draft IPA out on the market!

ALE (ABV 4.4%, 22 IBU) Tallgrass Ale is the flagship beer of Tallgrass Brewing Company, and we think it will be your new favorite beer! Truly a craft beer, the recipe was first brewed by Jeff as a 10-gallon batch of homebrew. Of all his homebrew recipes, Jeff chose Tallgrass Ale as the flagship beer because of the beer’s surprising light body, extraordinarily smooth and balanced profile, great taste, and clean finish. The first time Jeff brewed Tallgrass Ale he thought it looked a little too dark, but after he kegged that first batch, the finished beer was really, really tasty! That first little 10-gallon batch of Tallgrass was gone way too fast!

While Tallgrass isn’t going to be very easy for most of us to find, I certainly recommend giving it a try when you do.

Thursday, July 26, 2012

Normally, when it comes to laws and beer, I say anything that brings more beer or better beer to the people is the way to go.

But today, I'm not so sure, so I'm asking what you, the Pū'ali koa have to say.

Suitable container for beer?

Arizona will soon be able to fill a growler at any bar. And the term growler is apparently not very well defined.

After having taken such pride and effort into producing their product, I can't imagine that brewers are real happy about some suds slinger pouring their craft beer into whatever jug some hobo finds on the street.

And from what I can see, this will apply to BMC as well, so you know that Hobos will be taking their wine jugs in for a fill.

Not that I'm saying that I'm against a Hobo having beer, I'm against serving the beer in such a manner that an inferior product will be served in the end!

Rob over at BeerPhxation covered the situation pretty well. Here is his take:

Growler Law | Heart of Glass

Back in April, BeerPHXation was the first to break the news that there was a change in the growler law.
The change would enable Bars and Liquor Stores the ability to sell
growlers of beer for off-premise consumption where this had once been
the sole province of breweries. Breweries enjoyed a special relationship
with customers though the growler and did so without legislative
restriction. We wrote a little something about that as the language of the bill became clearer.

Tuesday, July 24, 2012

I hate to say it because it has taken a ton of time and effort to narrow down the ideas to 4, which I then haggled with until I finally put them all in a hat and spilled beer into it, and the one I could read was the final selection.

I must begin by thanking all of you that submitted entries. I appreciate each reader of this little dis-jointed blog, but those of you that take the time to interact make it all the better!

There were entries ranging from pirate humor to coastal puns. Beer related, fun related, honest to funny. They really were all great!

But in the end, there is but one winner. Two actually, because my wife threatened my beer drinking existence if I didn’t give a runner-up koozie to the originator of the Brew-Hona’s.

So, @chesneychik1, E-mail your address to BigKahunaBrew@gmail.com and I’ll get your koozie sent out to you!

I also want to mention that John Helms III gets a serious honorable mention with his very first entry of “Kahuligans”. I like it!

But the final winner, and recipient of the Kahuna Party Pack,
Drum Roll?
No?.... (Why don’t I ever get a drum roll??)
Ok.

@Chaddah You win! “Pū'ali koa” It is!

The literal translation is “troops, regiment, brigade, corps.”

This couldn’t be more fitting, as I see you all as ones battling bad beer, fighting the doldrums and melancholy that life brings you, the people striving for better things and happier times. You are the people with a smile when it’s raining, a beer when it’s hot and plans for the next big thing! You ARE “Pū'ali koa!”

Now, as director of this small army of soldiers fighting the suck, I ask you to get out there, enjoy life, have some fun, drink some beer or mix some rum in whatever you’re drinking! Get to living!

Saturday, July 21, 2012

In honor of my niece getting married, and the fact that I'm kicking it on a beach on the Atlantic side of Southern Florida with an open bar, I've got no beer to share with you today!

I do have a beautiful pick of a great beach to help share the moment!

This would be a great time for you to cruise over and check out the Conched in Key West Bar Crawl on Facebook, where you can get the updates for what I believe will prove to be the best time you'll have all year!

You also need to step over to BigKahunaBrew on Facebook and leave your ideas for the "Name Yourselves" contest for a chance to win a Kahuna Party Pack! Deadline for entries is this Tuesday!

Thursday, July 19, 2012

It’s Thursday, which means that if you use Untappd, the kick ass beer tracking app, you can win a new badge called New Brew Thursday.

So, in my quest, I’m sharing with you a Rogue XS Imperial Red Ale.

Pouring red and medium bodied, the head forms with an off white color leaving me wonder where it comes from. The beer is mildly hazy and even during the pour you can smell the wonderful malt character typically associated with a good red ale.

CHOCOLATE? Really? I don’t taste it at all.... But that may be the point!

The first sip is mildly sweet, well balanced and malty. There are definite fruit leather notes, perhaps dried apple and Plum?

There is a mildly spicy flavor, which I assume comes from the aggressive hop presence. I wouldn’t call it IPA Style Hops, but at 58 IBU, it’s pushing the limits of what you’ve ever experienced in a red ale.

The finish is bitter, but not drying. It has just enough of a bite to say “HEY! I’m RIGHT HERE!” but it’s so inviting that I drank the first half sip after sip after sip... Without putting it down.

Rogue has a semi-proprietary yeast called “Packman Yeast.” Home-brewers have been culturing this aggressive yeast for years out of bottles of Rogue Beer. It’s now available to purchase, and this beer is just another showcase of what it can do! The yeast leaves a wonderful malty, breaddy flavor that you just can’t replicate!

I’m not sure how available this little BIG beer is, because I got it off the clearance rack at one of my local Colorado Liquor outlets.

While I’m sure I got a good deal on this beer at $4.50 for a 7 oz bottle, I’m pretty sure it’s a screaming deal at twice that price!

This brew pours thick and black with a medium creamed coffee colored head that dissipated to a thin lace very quickly.

The nose is wonderfully roasty and sweet. No notable hop nose, but there is a lot of dark malts coming through and it reminds me of how great the kitchen smelled when I tried to roast my own malt.... Just before it burnt and turned to charcoal mini bricks.

The initial sip reveals a perfect mouthfeel. It’s full and satisfying, but not sticky or thick. There is a distinct bite of Carbonic Acid from aggressive carbonation. I hope that goes away as the beer sits.

The roasted grains come through very nicely and taste almost smokey. There is chocolate in there, but it’s a very dark and rich chocolate that is initially covered by the bite and roast.

The finish is long and sweet. There is no forgetting you’ve had a drink.

As the beer warms, the metallic bite dissipates somewhat and the chocolate becomes more pronounced, but still very dark and bitter. A nice contrast to the overall sweetness.

I would be remiss to leave out the distinct coffee flavor that is developing as the beer warms. It’s not like a coffee stout, but it’s still pretty forward. There are hints of nutmeg and clove that accompany the chocolate and coffee through to the finish.

This reminds me a lot of the over-the-top Reindeer Fuel Stout I brewed with a LOT of coffee.

This is a really interesting brew. I have never had it before, but I’ll be pretty excited to drink the other three bottles and see how my perception changes as I become accustomed to what I’m going to get.

This beer is a definite BUY and Drink. If you see it on the shelf, grab a 4 pack and give it a whirl.

~Cheers (and don’t forget to make your submission to win a Kahuna Party Pack!)

Thursday, July 12, 2012

Just in case you decide you want to travel in my footsteps, I want to tell you about a great place to stay in St. Pete’s Beach Florida.

We love the St. Pete’s area because of the tranquil, laid back atmosphere that is a St. Pete’s vacation.I’ve been to Hawaii, and I’ve been to Siesta Key Beach... Which is the #1 beach in the USA! But one thing that they both have in common is people. Lots and LOTS of people!

Some days, that is fine with me! It can be a fun experience to crowd onto the beach and chit chat with the folks sitting next to you. Sometimes you simply can’t avoid it because it’s impossible to get far enough away from other people to have a private conversation.

But when I’m looking to let the kids run-amok for a few days, splash about in the ocean and basically act like wild animals from daybreak till they run out of steam just after the sun goes down, I like to have a LOT less people around! Both as a fun issue, and as a courtesy to others!

I don’t much care for other people’s children running all over the place, kicking sand everywhere and making a ton of noise while I’m trying to relax, so I suspect that I should try to keep my kids from doing the same thing to other people.

That’s why I LOVE St. Pete’s! There are other kids about. There are quite a few people around. But the beach is spacious, the Gulf is warm, the waters are shallow and we can all have a good time!

Two years in a row now we have stayed at the Sirata beach resort at 5300 Gulf Blvd, St. Pete Beach.

Last year we ended up selecting the Sirata because of price. This year we ended up selecting the Sirata because of experience.

There are three pools on-site, and yeah, you’ll hang out at the pool even with the ocean RIGHT THERE! Each of the pools has a little bar and grill, so you’ll never go hungry and it’s easy to stay hydrated with rum punch or a cold draft beer.

In all honesty, the best service and food on the property come from Rum Runners bar and grill. (And they have a BigKahunaBrew.com sticker on their ice box.)

Because we like to travel to this area during June and July, the air temp and the Gulf’s water temp are often matching 89 degrees! No cold shock when you hit the water!

There are restaurants on-site at the Sirata, and we found ourselves eating Breakfast at the Compass Grill every morning that we were there.

The Compass Grill has great food, but I must say that the service is terrible! Two years in a row, eight mornings for breakfast, the service just sucks! But you notice that I said we kept eating there! The food and convenience make up for the lack of service... Mostly!

There is a surf shop across the street, and about every five or six blocks all the way up and down the coast. So anything you forget, sunscreen, towels, beach balls, chairs... It’s all right there.

I must admit that I’m a real live sucker for the beach shopping, and the area certainly lends itself to folks like me. Traveling north to Clearwater, you get to travel through eclectic little towns with names like Treasure Island.... How do you beat that?

The 25 mile drive takes a full hour because you’ll never break over 35 mph as you take in the beautiful scenery and stop for lunch.

The beach activities at the Sirata take the cake! You can rent Wave Runners, hitch a snorkeling tour, take a dolphin watching adventure or parasail right from the beach at the Sirata.

There are several options for a family vacation, but for a salty soul like me, you can’t beat a beach vacation.

If two trips to the Sirata and a blog post are not enough to tell you what I think, we are planning our third visit for next year!

Anything I like, I like to be able to make at home. Beer, Rum, Wine, Food... It doesn’t matter. I’ll try to make it!

But I wasn’t wowed by the thought of BUYING a Chipotle vodka.

Not when I could make the drink with RUM and make the rum at home.

Well, not exactly make it from scratch... more like make it the way YOU would make it.

I actually bought a bottle of Silver Bacardi. Unusual as it is for me to buy Bacardi, it was cheap... And available.

So, into a cheap wine jug I added 2 Jalapeño peppers, 2 small green chili peppers and 2 Habanero peppers that I roasted on the grill over charcoal.

I sliced the peppers into 1/4 sections long ways and plopped them right into the jug.

Now.... Ryan said he put “A” jalapeño into rum.... I’ve over done it haven’t I?

Actually.... NO! This stuff is hot as FIRE to take a shot of, but if you want a truly great bloody marry, this wild juice is a must!

As for the Oyster Shot? I live in a barren wasteland for good seafood, and I’ll be damned if I’m eating a raw oyster in the middle of the Colorado Desert! So I gave it a go with canned oysters and... well... let’s just say I can’t wait to get back to SKOB!

But for the bloody marry drinks alone, I will keep a jug of this around!

In-fact, I’m considering keeping it a living jug... much like my "Root Juice" and just keep adding rum as it runs out.

Think of it as a Solera De Chili!

I guess this is just one more little gimmick that I can pull from the cabinet for a nice surprise or to shock the hell out of someones palate, but I like it!

So Be Ware if you come over for drinks.... one may be hotter then the brass hinges on the gates of HELL!

Saturday, July 7, 2012

I think I’ve told you all about our local brew competition that happens at the county fair.It’s pretty low rent, and the crowd judges the brew.

Everyone gets a ticket, every beer has a number, after sampling all of the brews, the crowd puts their ticket in a can that matches the number of the beer that they like.

Sounds like fun so far? Good!

It’s free to get in, there are usually only four or 5 brewers involved, and two of us usually take something interesting. One of the other guys brings “Lager.”

He has no idea what the hell he has, but he knows it’s got lager yeast in it... So he calls it a lager. The corn and metallic lager usually scores pretty well with the local crowd... Who take no shame in calling Keystone their beer, and Coors Light “Good Beer”

Kolsch from 2008 that did well in the competition.

Not that there is anything wrong with these hard working cowboy types, well... Except that too much Copenhagen has frizzled up their taste buds to a point of thinking anything NOT BMC is “Heavy” and “Hoppy”

I’ve done well at this competition with Kolsch, the Apricot Blond from the Brew Hut in Aurora, Cream of Three Crops recipe by BierMuncher at HomeBrewTalk.com and my recipe from last year that included 3# of 2 row, and Wine yeast.

So, My goal for this year:

Eliminate the off flavors that our very hard water adds to very light beer by brewing with bottled water. Not that any of the folks that are sampling will notice, but I do.

I will add just enough fruit to this light little beer that it will add complexity (for whatever that's worth in a beer with no character at all) to the barren landscape left by the mixture of corn and rice.... OH.... I will leave out the corn! I’m making beer here, not whiskey!

I will use a champagne yeast to ferment. Best idea ever? NO! But it does help to remove most of the yeast character that our target audience finds so offensive.

I will brew this SOONER than later because I have to serve it on August 11!

Thursday, July 5, 2012

Welcome to the Thursday Edition! I hope you had a superb 4th of July, still have all your fingers and your hangover is well buffered by great amounts of grilled food!

We celebrated with friends, smoked pork, grilled Steaks, Orval and Rochefort 10! Great times!
But now it’s time to get planning for more great times, and I’ve got great news!

We’ve worked out some fine deals for the Conched in Key West Bar Crawl this year! We’ve got deals on travel, lodging, drinks.... Including a cup that will be good for different CRUZAN Rum drink specials at different bars and good all weekend!

Join me, Team Cocktail, Rum Connection, RumShopRyan and Coastlines & Tan Lines for a bar hopping adventure on the streets of Key West, all while raising money for an amazing charity–Reef Relief. Purchase your tickets now! You’ll be getting a special bar crawl shirt and the crawl cup that will get you discount drinks.

Who else gives you 4 days of drink specials for $30? NOBODY! So write these details down!

Thanks to our PREMIERE sponsor, Rob's Rum Guide, you can do a bit of research before being confronted with an entire weekend of Fun in the Sun With Beer and Rum! 4 days of Rum Drink Specials, even I may run out of new things to try..... Or Not!

Need help with travel? Travel Arrangements are easy now that Jodi and Starfish Travel have joined our team and will be offering some great travel packages! So if you are trying to figure out your arrangements give them a call and let them know you are part of our event! Visit them here!

From some parts of the country, a flight to Ft. Myers is pretty cheap, but getting on down to Key West is pretty spendy! We have a solution for that too!

Why not ride down with Rum Shop Ryan on the Key West Express? Enjoy a few cocktails and ride down on this fast boat, arriving in style!

The Express is the ferryboat that travels from Ft. Myers Florida to Key West Florida. We are calling this the unofficial first stop on the bar crawl. And with a full bar serving a special drink just for our trip, it’s sure to be a legendary start to a weekend full of fun.

The boat will leave for Key West on Thursday, September 20th and you return anytime you like (The boat doesn’t run on Monday’s and Wednesdays). The ticket is even an open-ended return for you in case you’d like to return right after the crawl for stay awhile!

We have arranged a round-trip ticket price of $115. That’s $34 dollars off the normal $149 price, and they have agreed to donate a portion of the ticket price to Reef Relief!
They have created a web page just for us to sign up on! So go to Key West Express Bar Crawl Page and sign up now!

The Crown Plaza La Concha Key West sits right on famous Duval Street and will serve as the main hotel for the Conched in Key West Bar Crawl. You of course don’t have to stay here but we were able to get some great rates for all of you Crawlers!

This legendary Key West hotel that has inspired guests like Ernest Hemingway and Tennessee Williams, and more recently played home to Buck Riley in the book Green To Go.

It has great rooms and an amazing roof top bar that offers views over the entire island. They’re located in the middle of all the action, 430 Duval Street.
Crown Plaza – La Concha special Pub Crawl room rates:

They’re holding a block of rooms for us for Thursday, Friday and Saturday. The other days are on a first come first served basis at the discounted price. The process for making reservation is to call 305-296-2991 and mention that you are part of the Conched in Key West Pub Crawl group, or of course Starfish Travel can set it up for you.

As you can see, we’ve got some great things lines up for this year’s crawl, but that doesn’t mean we are done! The organizers of this event continue to work tirelessly, researching new bars, talking to owners and adding value to this weekend!

Tuesday, July 3, 2012

It’s summer time, that means time to get outside and make the most of the sunshine!

For some of us, the things that make life worth living are... well... food and Craft Beer! It is rare that you can combine Food, Craft Beer, a sweet atmosphere, big tables, sunshine and did I mention beer? But I HAVE found a place for you!

As, I hope you have come to know, I am here for you! I'm trying new things, choking back a LOT of bad restaurants and bars because I don’t really have the time nor the interest to write about something that sucks!

On Saturday, I found a place that is so far from sucks, that I knew walking up to the front gate that I’d be taking the time to write about this one!

Located at 7577 East Academy Blvd. Denver... Right under the east end of Hanger #2 at the old Lowry Air Force Base, is a trendy, open air beer garden that just makes me smile!

The Lowry Beer Garden is the place I picture when I close my eyes and think of the best way in Colorado to piss away an afternoon.

Filled with LONG tables and bench style seating, there is plenty of room for everyone on a Saturday afternoon.

Looking at the tips on Four Square, I was a bit hesitant to take my two kids along, but I figured what the hell... Some people are idiots... And they leave tips.

Not knowing the folks bitching about kids at the beer garden, I make no judgement of them. I have certainly been irritated to the point of asking parents to take their kids out of a bar at midnight. But at 1:30 on a Saturday afternoon.... All I have to say is that Dads need beer too!

Now, my kids are pretty well behaved at these sort of places, and there is a better than good chance they’ll be more interesting to the table next to us than I am.... So that’s why I don’t always take them. Sometimes I need the attention!

All of that aside, the menu lends itself well to my kids, and me! It may not be the thing for young kids, or most kids for that matter, but what the hell, It's a beer garden not Chuckee Cheese!

Food prices are great, portion size is spot on, except for the pretzel, (Dare you to order the BIG ONE) and the style is modern and inviting! The menu is fairly up-scale for bar food, so you can expect old classics with a gourmet twist!

My daughter and I both had fantastic salads, hers had shrimp, mine had Ahi. The boy had a burger, and once he dumped a fist full of sauerkraut on it... He said it was “Good as it could be!” (Yes, he is 7 years old!)

As a full fledged fried food aficionado, I might venture to say that the fries are in the top 3 or 4 in Colorado, so give them a try!